Summer anime 2011 – ending comments

It’s time to say something about the Summer anime season which has just ended. I followed four of the Summer anime series to the end:
I watched:No.6 – it didn’t quite deliver on the intriguing first episode or the all-action second episode, but it was good enough to keep me watching, just about. I had the feeling that the scriptwriters, having set up the story, didn’t know what to do any more. The final episode leant overmuch on the supernatural and didn’t suspend disbelief so much as throw it off a cliff, but at least contained a suitable amount of destruction.

Usagi Drop – ah, the joy of rearing a cute small child… There wasn’t much of a story, but it didn’t really matter.

Ikoku Meiru no Croisee – a charming series that looked good and otherwise didn’t try too hard for effect. Yune is quite cute and rich girl Alice Blanche is deliciously annoying. Not a lot happened at the end.

Kami-sama no memo-chou (God’s Notepad) – I liked this, it seemed well-scripted, and the format of setting up and solving a mystery in two episodes seemed to work well. I thought that the annoying loli Alice (is this a popular anime name?) deserved to be ignored for 12 episodes, the self-centred brat. And wasn’t the little non-Japanese girl cute? Towards the end of the series something happens that was said to be typical of anime but actually rarely occurs – a major character gets wiped out.

Double-J – I watched about 8 episodes before getting bored with it. Perhaps one needs to be Japanese to really get the joke.

Continued watching to the end, from previous season:

Hanasaku Iroha – I just like this sort of slice-of life melodrama. BTW the title translates as “Personal Growth ABC”. The ending was a mild surprise, and left one wondering if it was a hook for a second series next year.

Steins; Gate – I kept watching to find out if things got more and more messed up or got fixed by the end. I’m not sure if it made sense, but if it didn’t, it wasn’t obvious. I was tickled to discover that some of the whacky stuff in the series wasn’t just made up – Google the ‘IBM 5100’ or ‘John Titor’ and you’ll see what I mean…

I am also watching the excellent Mawaru Penguin Drum which continues for another 12 or so episodes.